Tessa Bales
by NathaliaLavell
Summary: I'm Therese Natalie Bales. Up until the first day of school, I was content with my life. But when the Death Eaters take control over my parents and my life must go on, it gets a little bit complicated. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE
1. Summary

SUMMARY:

My name is Therese Natalie Bales. My parents, brother and friend call me Tessa. Lily and the Gryffindor girls call me Therese. To everyone else, I'm Bales. I'm quiet and reclusive. I only need a friend and a study buddy to maintain pure happiness.

That is not so anymore. On September 1st, 1975, Death Eaters called upon my father. The only things I know are:

(1) My mom and dad are being controlled by Death Eaters.

(2) If I tell the Ministry (or anyone really), they will be killed.

(3) If I don't tell anyone, the Ministry will surely fall to He Who Must Not Be Named.

How are you supposed to go to school and act as if everything is okay when your parents are either going to be killed or lead to the fall of the Ministry?

That's easy

Befriend the cocky and arrogant Marauders, of course.


	2. Chapter One: My Worst AnnualUnluckyDay

_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!_

Chapter One: My Worst Annual-Unlucky-Day

Hogwarts.

What a place.

A school for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This is the story of my Fifth Year.

First, picture one of those little girls you see in pictures—you know, with red curly hair, a sweet little smile, ice-blue eyes and super pale skin that needs like spf 1000. Well, she grew up to have that same cute baby face and an annoying laugh. I always wanted an adult's face. Instead, I kept my baby face. I miss my beautiful laugh, that one every child has. Now it's high and annoying. Well, that's me.

My name is Therese Natalie Bales. I have a brother, Frederick Vincent Bales, but he's off in America studying a recently discovered native dragon breed. He looks a lot like me. Except where my skin is albino but spotless, his is tan and freckled. We were born to prominent Wizard—and shoe-in for Minister of Magic—Mr. Vincent Michael Bales and Second in Command Head Auror Mrs. Therese Janice Bales.

Since I hear an explosion from the back door, I'm going to discontinue my ramblings. Looking back, It's quite amazing how every year, I managed to forget that on September 1st, I always had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I headed over to the explosion cautiously and hid behind the door as three men entered. My mother's scuffles from organizing paper upstairs in the office stopped.

The men were tall and malevolent looking. The middle one, the leader, had graying hair that was slicked back and blue eyes colder than the Black Lake in January which were fixed on my dad.

"Our Master doesn't accept your reply." The leader said. His chilly blue eyes were fixed on my dad's calm green ones.

"Well, that's unfortunate," My father said. Behind his back, I saw him wave his wand and my school trunk disappeared. I supposed he sent them to the station.

"It is. But you can fix this." The blue eyed Death Eater said. "You have a son in America, don't you?" He said, fiddling with a ring on his finger. "Taming dragons, right?" He glanced malevolently around. "You wouldn't want anything... _unfortunate_ to happen to him, would you?" He gave my father a careless glance.

"Are you threatening me, Rosier?" My father asked, his hands balling into fists. Rosier? Evan Rosier's dad, maybe?

"Oh, no of course not!" The man, Rosier said, obviously lying.

My father was now whiter than me (and that's saying something!). "I swear, if you harm him—I'll—"

"You'll what?" Rosier laughed. He continued in his calm, dangerous voice, "You have a daughter—she's still here, is she not? My son is the year above her, I believe. You wouldn't want anything to happen to her, of course." Rosier said. I shivered in revulsion. "I even have some connections at the ministry—in the Auror department. Master only need give the word and your wife might have them for a partner. She might even have an accident on the job. Unfortunate, isn't it?" He paused, watching my father. "Have you changed your mind yet?" Rosier asked, pointing his wand at my father.

My father said nothing.

"You didn't think you had a _choice_, did you?" Rosier laughed.

"We all have choices," My father murmured. His gaze flitted to me for the briefest moment before he jerked his head back, and I knew what he meant. _Run_.

Boy did I run. I tore through the house. I heard someone shout a stunning spell and the red streak whizzed past my head. I knocked over bookcases as I ran, trying to make it as difficult as possible for them to catch me. I burst out of the house and ran down the street, weaving as spells whizzed past me. I made a sharp turn down an alley and then a left as I turned onto Grimmauld Place.

I quickly ran up the street and thankfully Number Twelve began smooshing the other houses as I approached. I ran up the lawn and banged on the door. I heard a woman yell for someone to get the door and a bunch of curses from a man before the door swung open to reveal Sirius Black. The last person I'd wanna see, but what choice did I have? All I cared about at that point was that he _hated_ You-Know-Who.

Sirius Black was the best looking bloke in the year. He was handsome from First to Third Year, with his pristine look, but during his Third Year, he stopped slicking back his black hair and let it fall messily over his forehead. He also began to grow some serious muscle after he made Beater. Now he was hot. His skin was somehow spotless and tanned from the amount of sun we got this summer. His eyes were grey and usually full of arrogant humor. Right now, they were just filled with confusion.

One of the few things I admire about Sirius Black is that he has the ability to improvise.

"Well?" I heard his mother yell. "Who's here?"

"Therese Bales," He called back, ushering me in. I gave him a smile of thanks.

"Therese?" I saw Mrs. Black appear at the top of the stare case. She took me in for a moment, "Oh, the young one," She smiled at me charmingly. "Well hello dear." She said. "Come in, come in," I smiled back at her. Mrs. Black was an elegant and regal woman with heavy-lidded eyes and a snowy white face. Her eyes were brown and her hair was curly and tied in a stylish knot. She wore silk gloves and black dress robes. She and my mother and father were friends through politics, so she must have thought Sirius was talking about my mother, who shares her name with me.

"I'm so sorry to bother you Mrs. Black," I said, hoping to be polite. I could barely keep myself together! Gasping and panting and on the verge of tears, I wiped sweat from my face and attempted to compose myself (attempt being the operative word).

"Darling, why are you so flushed in the face?" She asked. I had no answer.

"She ran here," Sirius said. Mrs. Black blinked at him in confusion and I shot him a confused and warning look. "See," He said, putting an arm around me, "She's getting in shape for quidditch, we're both beaters, so I told her to be exercising over the summer. This was her smart-aleck way of proving to me she has been." He said. I wasn't even on the team… I nodded vigorously. "How long did it take you?"

"Ten minutes," I said, quite honestly.

"What are you doing here then?" She asked.

"Um…well, my parents had an urgent meeting with my aunt Eleanor in Scotland and they asked me if I could find a way to the station, and I said I would, since I knew Sirius'd love to be so generous as to let me come." I said glancing at Sirius and hitting his chest lightly.

"Didn't I tell you?" Sirius asked, grabbing the back of his neck. He gave his mother the pointed look all boys give to their mother when they're trying to subtly tell them that they like the girl so let her stay over.

Mrs. Black's eyes narrowed. "No you did not," She said viciously. She did, however, catch the look. "But we would love to get you there. Where are your trunks?" She added.

"Oh, my dad sent them ahead." I said.

"I need to finish packing," Sirius mumbled and dragged me past his mother and up a ton of stairs before pushing me into a room which I knew by its interior was his. Red and gold everywhere with a picture of James Potter, Remus Lupin and himself on the wall. I noted a picture of a motorcycle and a girl. I almost laughed inwardly. His parents must hate him.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, heading over to his dresser and pulling robes out and chucking them at his half filled trunk.

I headed over to his trunk. Call me crazy, but I found peace in organizing things. "Death Eaters paid my parents a visit and chased after me. I knew you'd help me, since you're super-anti-You-Know-Who. Plus, you were the closest wizard I knew of." I said. I pulled all his junk out and began folding his robes.

"What?" Sirius asked, aghast, taking the robes from me.

I took them back, saying, my voice trembling "I know, and I don't know what to do! I know I can't go home. And their lives are depending on if I go to the ministry or not. I—" I broke off—if I continued to talk, I'd start crying. I continued to pack Sirius's trunk till I heard a tapping at the window. I saw Knight, my tiny black owl. Sirius opened the window and handed me the letter.

_Tessa_

_—We're fine. No need to worry too much. But we sent your trunk straight to the station. We feel it's best you don't come right back here, in case they're still lurking,_

_With Love_

_Mum and dad_

I sighed. Yup, the Death Eaters still had them. See, my mum never addresses letters to me. Always to Therese Bales. She always signed it with _Yours Truly, Miss Gales_. Gales was her maiden name. So if it were intercepted, it would look like a letter to herself. And secondly, mum never had bad grammar.

I translated it as: _Tessa—we're fine. Death Eaters are making me write this letter. Don't tell anyone and we'll be fine._

I groaned and teared up a bit. I wiped away the tears and tucked the letter away.

"I don't think you need to do that," Sirius said as I went to pack his trunk.

"Just let me," I snapped, nudging him away. He backed off and I packed his trunk. I almost snorted when I came across a mirror. Sirius Black _would_ keep a mirror.

When I finished packing his trunk, pristine and organized, we headed downstairs. The house was large and I took it in better than I did earlier as I went down. It was clean but…dark, fitting for a residence called the _Blacks_. I noted a troll umbrella stand and a couple of house elves mounted on heads. My grandfather did that, I remembered. I used to gaze at them when I was little, fascinated by them. Now I found it quite repulsive. I heard clicking as we approached the bottom floor.

Mrs. Black was tapping her foot impatiently. Beside her, Regulus was waiting, robes on already.

Regulus was as handsome as Sirius. He was tall, possibly taller than his brother. His face lacked the laugh-lines that Sirius had. His eyes were grey and cold. He slicked his black hair back, like Sirius used to. He was Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team. He was very skinny, unlike Sirius, who had the typical Beater's build—brawny, especially in the arms and chest.

Mrs. Black led the way out of the house and onto the front steps. She held her arms out and Sirius and Regulus each took one of her arms. Sirius held a hand out to me and I took it.

Then we disapparated.

After being squeezed through the usual bands, I found myself on the platform. People were bustling around, First Years were crying into their mothers, older kids were greeting their friends excitedly.

Sirius said a quick and stiff goodbye to his mother, who returned it even colder and he dragged me away. We were wandering when someone called out to Sirius.

"Oi! Sirius!" The all too familiar voice called out. "Who's your new girlfriend?" We turned to see James Potter. His grin fell into a confused frown as he recognized me. "_Bales_? What's she doing with you? I thought she hates you," He said.

James Potter was handsome. Tall and lean, he was quite the looker. His hazel eyes were slighty obscured behind a pair of dorky, yet somehow stylish glasses that drove girls crazy for some reason. He had black hair that he always ruffled back which gave him a windswept look. Star Chaser of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he was _extremely_ popular. But looks and popularity aside, I was not fond of the bloke.

In fact, James Potter and I were not too fond of each other at all. He thinks I'm sitting on a porcupine and I think he's an arse. I tend to get so sick of his constant and pointless opinionated and misinformed babbling that I always snap at him.

"It's none of your business," I snapped at him. I turned to Sirius. "No one needs to know. Got it?" I said in a low tone, wearing a dangerous face. He nodded slightly, understanding.

Then he waved me off, saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

I glared at him. "Don't give me that tone," I began, unable to control my snappish ways, but James interrupted.

"Pull that stick out of your arse and lighten up, Bales," He said in an exasperated tone.

I glared at him, but held my tongue and, instead of lingering with imbeciles, walked off. I saw a sign for luggage that was sent ahead and, to my relief, I saw my trunk and Knight, locked safely in his cage.

I dragged my heavy trunk to the train. I lifted my trunk up onto the train and promptly dropped the damnable luggage on my foot. I hopped around swearing until I hopped into someone.

"Everything okay there, Therese?" I pivoted on my one good foot to see Remus Lupin.

Oh, Remus Lupin. He was my favorite Gryffindor bloke. He didn't put up with Potter's shit and he worked to be better than them at the academics—it drove everyone crazy when they barely raised a finger and made great grades. _He_ was the one who made their pranks work.

He was quiet and reserved and watched everyone with a slight amusement as if we were all his entertainment, but it wasn't in a conceited way. He was tall and skinny and oddly scarred, but no one asked why. He had sandy hair and warm brown eyes. He had a handsome face, but it wasn't startlingly so, as his two friends' handsomeness were. Remus loved his friends, that much was clear to all, but I figured there must be something that makes him so loyal to them.

"Well—you see, my trunk fell on my foot," I answered. I wiggled my foot to test if it was okay to stand on—it wasn't. I winced.

"Do you want help?" He asked, holding out a helpful arm which I used to balance.

"Oh no, it's all good," I said, reaching for my wand. To my confusion, it wasn't in my pocket. I spun around to see if I had dropped it, but I didn't see it. "You've got to be kidding me," I mumbled, double checking all my pockets.

"Lost your wand?" Remus said. I nodded. This was the worst day of my life. My parents were attacked by Death Eaters and I lost my wand. I grabbed my hair in anxiety.

I grabbed my trunk and limped to an empty compartment and slumped on to the seat. I nursed my hurt toe and waited for my friends to find me.

I only had two friends in Gryffindor, and we weren't very close. We spoke about abstract irrelevant things, not sharing personal issues or secrets. We were just friendly. So I hung out with Lily Evans and Alice Prewett and sort of their group of friends.

In a short while, my only close friend Leander Jordon, entered. He was tall and black and handsome and buff and Beater for the Ravenclaws. We became friends because I cracked his shin.

Well—that is, I was aiming for Sirius and Leander stepped into the line of fire when I chucked my book at the fool Black for putting some maggots in my cauldron during Potions. I escorted him to the Hospital Wing. When he found out his shin was cracked, he was impressed and we became friends.

"Hey Tessa," He said, slumping beside me. "How was your summer?"

"Fine," I snapped. He started and faced me.

"Whoa, what's up?" He asked, actually taking in my brooding countenance. He threw an arm around me and looked at me closely.

"I broke my wand and lost my foot—no! I mean—I broke my foot and lost my wand!" I slurred my words in annoyance. Something about being around the fool I call my friend made me do that a lot. Come to think of it, I do that around my brother too, but he doesn't laugh at my slurs.

Lee laughed for a second before the information sunk in. Like the wave of a wand, his countenance rearranged to disbelief. "You _lost_ your wand?" He asked incredulously. After a moment's thought, he pulled his wand out. "Which foot's bothering you?" He asked. Oh, good ole Lee always taking care of me! I held out my foot and he fixed it. We sat in silence, me, brooding over how sucky my life is, Lee, looking as if he were concentrating hard on something super-important.

"Tessa," He finally said, his face breaking into a grin, "How do you always manage to have such bad luck?" He asked, breaking out into laughter.

_You don't know the half of it_, I thought. But I knew he was referring to the past three years. I always had something happen to me. Last year I fell off the train because I was on the steps when it started movie, so I had to run with a sprained ankle to catch it. The year before I had tripped into a guy I had been madly crushing on. The year before that, I missed the train by twenty seconds and had to ride with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. You get the picture. First Year was the only year I had a smooth ride to school.

"Well you can write your parents when you get to school, then you can by a new wand." Lee said. I nodded and had to make a huge effort not to cry. There was a tapping on the compartment and we looked over. Angela Johnson beckoned to Lee. "And that's my cue," Lee said, squeezing my shoulder and leaving. Angela Johnson was Lee's girlfriend of two years. Those two were destined to be married. She was Keeper for the Ravenclaws and she was very pretty and outgoing.

A little while later, Alice Prewett and her friends found me. Lily Evans, being the new prefect, would stop by later.

Lily was top student and prefect. She had red hair and green eyes, like me, except, she had a gorgeous adult**** face. Alice Prewett had curly brown hair and blue eyes and she was a busy bee. She too, had an adult face.

"Hey there Tessa!" The super-outgoing Alice said, plopping down across from me.

"Hello," I said as politely as possible.

"How was your summer?" Alice asked.

"It was good," _Until today_, "I saw the Woollongong Warriors and the Wimbourne Wasps at the Cup in Luxemburg,"

"_You_ were there?" James Potter stepped in—he was obviously trying to keep near Lily (hah! Joke's on you-she's not here yet!)—staring at me in surprise. At school, I rolled my eyes when quidditch matches came up, but that was because it was out of character for me to be excited about such matters. I would hide at the end of the pitch and watch the match and later talk about it with Lee.

Sirius entered next, his eyes on me intensely. He was closely followed by Peter Pettigrew. Peter had was a short boy with watery grey-blue eyes and mousy brown hair that he kept perfectly in place with gel and comb. He was a little reserved, but he never shut up once you got him going. He wasn't particularly good at magic, but he was loyal to a fault. He always backed his friends up, though he rarely stuck up for himself.

"Of course." I said, rolling my eyes nonchalantly. "I've always loved professional quidditch."

James obviously didn't believe me. "Who's your team?" James asked giving me a skeptical look.

"The Kenmare Kestrels—they _would_ have been in the tournament had that idiot Bagman on the Wasps not given Will Plumbly a concussion—he's the best Beater in the league! That replacement Perkins, he was just terrible!" I said, unable to keep my Quidditch passion at bay.

James looked pleasantly surprised that I followed quidditch and his and Sirius's eyes lit up. Peter watched me passively. "Yeah, but O'Hair plays dirty, he tail-whipped Bagman before that, of course Bagman gave Plumbly a concussion!" James said.

"Oh don't tell me you're a Wasps fan!" I groaned. "I mean, of course I'll support my country at the World Cup, but Bagman just sucks. But he did get what was coming to him," I said, smugly. He had taken a bludger to the face.

"I couldn't agree more, but I'm more of a fan of the Harpies." Sirius said while Peter nodded vigorously.

"That's because they're all girls," Alice chimed in—her brother-in-law was on the Magpies so she knew a bit about Quidditch.

"Not _solely_ for that reason—Jones is the best Chaser in the league—and you know it!" Sirius said.

"And Griffiths is a pretty good Seeker. You can't deny that!" Peter added. I spared him a glance.

I shrugged. "No one can compare to Plumbly," I said.

"I don't know, Murray's pretty good," Sirius said and I shrugged. Plumbly was the best.

"I used to be a fan of the Falcons, till Kevin and Karl Broadmoor left." I said in disgust.

"You do know that the Falmouth Falcons had the highest amount of fouls in the world for the amount of times those brothers beat those bludgers illegally, right?" James said, raising an eyebrow.

"So? It was always a good game. You never knew what was going to happen. Now you do—they're going to lose. After the Broadmoors left, they got as bad as the Chudley Cannons." I said.

James and Sirius looked at each other. "At school you roll your eyes at quidditch," James said. "Now you're in love with it." Sirius nodded and Peter's brows were drawn in confusion,

"You should see her and Leander Jordan go on about it," Alice said. "It's all they talk about."

"Really?" James asked.

"Do you watch the matches at Hogwarts? I've never noticed you," Sirius asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not easy to find. But I do." I said. Sirius and James looked dumbfounded.

"Are you any good?" James asked.

"I kick my brother's ass when we play and he's a dragon tamer," I said.

"What's your position?" Sirius asked.

"Beater." I said in a tone that dripped 'duh.'

"Of course, you're obsessed with Plumbly." Sirius said.

"All this time, and you never said anything," James said, looking surprised.

The door opened and Lily entered.

"Lily!" James said, beaming. "How was your summer?"

Lily ignored him. "Hello Therese," She smiled politely before hugging and giggling with Alice.

Sirius kept the conversation going, obviously trying to distract me from my woes. Suddenly I turned to Lily: "Wasn't your sister getting married this summer? How was the wedding?" I asked, having remembered as Sirius mentioned how the captain of the Tornados had recently been married and that he was going soft.

"Oh yeah, she's now Petunia Dursely. I guess he's good for her. I was maid of honor and it was okay." Lily said, smiling politely at me.

James jumped at the opportunity to have a conversation with Lily.

I was calming down finally. As I glanced at the door I caught sight of Regulus Black, who jerked his head, beckoning me to follow. I waited a moment, thinking up an alibi. I stood up and grabbed my robes and made the pretense of heading to change—well not necessarily a pretense, more like an excuse…whatever.

Regulus was a little ways down the hall, strolling slowly. I fell in step beside him. "Lose your wand?" He asked, drawing one from his robes.

"Oh thank Merlin!" I said, recognizing my wand. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tightly. He hugged me back and when I pulled away, he was smirking as if he was expecting that. I headed to the bathrooms and changed.

When I came back to the compartment, Lily and Alice were leaving to change. I plopped down in the compartment, semi-relieved. James stared at me contemplatively. "You should seriously consider joining. Joey Jenkins is gone—he joined the Canons," We all wrinkled our noses at the thought.

"I am _not_ going to be your underling." I said immediately after the nose-wrinkle.

James raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on, Bales! We need a new Beater, you say your alright—just try out. I'm not even captain yet," He pleaded with me.

I smiled and looked around. "Man, this is really nice," I said. Sirius, Peter, and James gave me questioning looks. "To _actually_ have _James freaking Potter_ begging me to do something. Just for that—I'll give it a shot." I said and James punched the air and Sirius clapped my back.

After a while more of Quidditch talk, Remus came by from patrols (he was prefect—not that it was a surprise to anyone who knew him) and saw me twiddling my wand.

"Oh! You found your wand! I was asking around. Where was it?" He said, smiling warmly.

"It was where I smashed my foot, in a crack. I found it on my way to change," I lied, not wanting to bring up Regulus in front of Sirius.

"How'd you smash your foot?" Sirius asked, confused.

Before I could answer, James spoke. "Moony, did you know Bales is a Quidditch fan?" He asked, apparently still flabbergasted.

Remus nodded, smiling at his friend's face.

"How?" James and I asked together.

"Mary Macdonald—I was checking on her after—you know, after what happened with those Slytherins—I accidentally wandered into your dorm and saw all the posters." He answered, but his face said more and I gave him a look that said 'what else?' "And your Kestrels…undergarments," He said cautiously. I rolled my eyes. Of course he did, the one time a boy was up there and they weren't put away.

"You have Kestrel underwear?" Sirius asked gleefully. James and Peter joined in his laughing.

"My brother thought it'd be funny." I said simply, laughing, a little embarrassed.

"It is," Sirius said, laughing.

The train soon began to slow and dusk had come and gone.

I was finally back.

**Welllll here's my first Harry Potter Fanfiction ever posted. Hopefully I'll keep up with it... Tell me what you think-comments, questions, concerns? Please tell me if I have any time-lapse errors (like if i said four years but it really amounts to three) because I got slightly confused when I was editing it so...yeah.**

**The quidditch stuff came from my imagination and hp-lexicon . org. Are you kidding me? I can't come up with team names!**

**Yours Truly**

**_NathaliaLavell_**

_Mischief Managed!_


	3. Chapter Two: Back To The Grind

Chapter 2: Back To The Grind

It was the first year so far that I wasn't gazing at our Headmaster with that blank face Sirius Black is known to get when listening to a girl—glassy-eyed, mouth kinda open. Every year I was out of it with my hunger. Not this year. Worry was eating away at me as I thought of my parents.

The First Years filed in looking as scared as usual. The hat sang his song, but I wasn't really listening until I noticed Remus a few seats down start a little. The hat was giving us a warning, I think, about He Who Must Not Be Named. Thanks Sorty—just a little late for me.

Professor Dumbledore greeted us and gave us his four annual random as hell words before the plates around me filled with food. I stared blankly at my plate, not too hungry.

"Bales," Sirius said, leaning next to me, "If you don't eat, I'm going to make a big deal about it," He murmured. I glared at him before putting food on my plate and mechanically eating it. I was almost sick when I ate. I couldn't talk with anyone. I refused to respond to anyone, even Sirius's alluring Quidditch talks.

This was very out of character for the both of us—we weren't friends. We weren't strictly enemies, more enemy of my friend is my enemy. I stood behind Lily and he behind James.

After an eternity, the plates cleared and Professor Dumbledore stood up for his speech.

"Welcome!" He greeted, beaming at all our sleepy faces. "Welcome to another Magical Year at Hogwarts. First Years should know that the Forbidden Forest is _forbidden_ and magic between classes is strictly forbidden—as should our older students." Dumbledore didn't smile as his gaze passed between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin tables.

"This year, I would remind you that our caretaker, Mister Filch, has updated his list of forbidden magical instruments. The full list can be found outside Mister Filch's door. It's a pretty long list, be sure you're not violating rules." His eyes twinkled and he gazed at the Gryffindor table. "After one year of teaching, our wonderful Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Tomlin has moved to Wales with his new wife and daughter. I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Scott Tenebris. Welcome, Professor Scott," Dumbledore began clapping. Applause resounded throughout the hall as everyone joined in.

I stared up at Professor Tenebris, who smiled with energy at the students clapping. I did a double take as I recognized him. He was the man who shot the stunner at me this morning. I began to hyperventilate just looking at him. He had white-blond hair and golden eyes that I could see from here. He was handsome and he looked very friendly. I looked down at the table, too scared to look at him—what if he felt my eyes and noticed me?

"Quidditch tryouts will be held next week. Contact your Quidditch captains if you are interested in joining," James reached around Sirius and hit my shoulder, giving me a pointed look. "Your captains for the teams will be announced as usual," Dumbledore said. "For Hufflepuff, it is Amos Diggory." A round of applause resounded. "For the Slytherins, Rodolphus Lestrange will lead you," James and Sirius groaned.

"He's such a dirty player," I heard Michael Bell groan from down the table.

"For Ravenclaw, your captain will be Leander Jordan," I finally brought my hands together, but with little enthusiasm.

"And Michael Bell will lead the Gryffindors," The entire hall erupted in loud cheers for Michael Bell. When the cheering quieted, Dumbledore continued.

"Next, I would like to inform you that we are hosting a Winter Ball. Your heads of house will give you more information on this." Everyone began murmuring to one another. Girls began murmuring the necessary trip to Hogsmede and boys about an excuse to ask a girl out.

"And lastly, I would like to address the issue of this rising Dark Lord. He is growing in strength. You must be cautious, death is not a laughing matter. I encourage inter-house unity—together we are stronger. That is all, off to bed with you all," Dumbledore said. The scraping of benches filled the hall and the murmur grew into a tumult of happy laughter.

Remus and Lily departed to take the First Years up to the Common Room.

Sirius waited for me as I took my time getting up. We walked out together. As we entered the queue at the door, I noticed Professor Tenebris approaching. I suddenly quickened my pace and shoved through the people and sped all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

The first thing I did upon entering the dormitory was pull out parchment and quill. I searched for my ink and scrawled a letter to my mom.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I made it to Hogwarts. Tell me, how is work? I'm nervous about school starting, they say Fifth Year is the worst. Was it hardest for you?_

_Sincerely,_

_Therese_

I _had_ to know if my parents were okay. I found Knight on my bed and tied my letter to him. I took him to the window. "Don't leave till they reply, got it?" I told him. He hooted softly and took off.

Shortly after, my dorm mates came up. "Man, Tessa, how'd you get here so fast?" Alice asked, pulling her coat off.

I shrugged. The other girls began chatting excitedly as I lay down on my bed. Their chatter distracted me for a while, but eventually they quieted. Sleep evaded me. I lay staring at the ceiling for an eternity. Finally, I fell asleep in the early hours of the morning only to be awoken by Lily, who looked worried. "You need to get up or you'll be late for breakfast."

I hauled my butt out of bed and showered and dressed in my usual skirt, blouse and robes. I headed down to the Great Hall where they passed out our schedules for the year. Sirius kept glancing at me worriedly as I sat and stared at my schedule blankly.

When I scanned it, I felt a little sick as I saw Defense Against the Dark Arts was my first class. The post came and went, but come Knight did not. I didn't eat breakfast; my appetite hadn't returned yet.

When the warning bell rang, I headed out of the hall and made to go up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, but someone grabbed by arm. I turned to see Sirius. His face looked worried. "Bales, class is this way," He said, jerking a thumb in the opposite direction. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

"I saw him yesterday morning," I whispered, tears welling up.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking confused.

"Tenebris! He was with the Death Eaters!" I said in a hiss, wiping my eyes frantically.

Sirius looked unsure of what to do. "Go to Dumbledore." He finally said.

"I can't!" I said, my voice breaking. "If I tattle they'll kill my mum!" I said.

"Dumbledore will figure something out, he defeated Grindelwald!" He said.

I glared at him. "You can gamble your loved ones' lives, but I won't," I said, turning to go.

"Tessa, you can't skip Defense Against the Dark Arts all year," He called, grabbing my arm again.

"I can sure as hell try." I snapped. He was the kid who skipped class all the time! Who was he to tell me I can't skip!

"You'll fail your OWLs." Sirius said. Again—since when was he a scholar?

"I'll teach myself," I said. I didn't really believe I would, but I was too scared of Tenebris.

"I won't leave your side." He took my hand comfortingly. I jumped a little at the bold and sudden contact. Sirius was the least caring Gryffindor Fifth year bloke I knew. Now he was being nice and thoughtful? I guess he pitied me.

I sighed. He was right. I couldn't skip the entire year. Who knew common sense could ever possibly come in the form of _Sirius Black_?

.

.

.

I sat down in the classroom as the Late Bell rang. The classroom had transformed since Professor Tomlin. There were bookshelves along one wall and all the desks lined the walls facing the center of the room, making a huge space in the center of the room.

Tenebris looked at me for a long time before taking roll. "Good morning," He called out cheerfully. "My name is Scott Tenebris, as you all know. This year, I plan on teaching you to duel and perhaps perform some non-verbal spells, if you can handle it." He said. He had a warm, friendly tone. "I know you had a good foundation—your previous professor, Professor Tomlin, graduated with me. We were both Slytherins. Let's see—the usual boring background every professor gives his students: I have a sister and my parents are writers for the _Daily Prophet_. I left to study the ways to defend yourself from werewolves and vampires and tried to find cures. I decided to teach after a colleague of mine was bit by a werewolf. Too dangerous for my liking.

"But that's enough about me, let's have a quiz, just to see where you are." He said, clapping his hands together excitedly. The entire class groaned.

"Oh, come on, it's not a grade—we'll be dueling." He said brightly. "Now," He said, surveying the class. "Let's see…" He said, looking at each of us carefully. "Therese Bales, step up, along with…you," He pointed and glanced at the attendance sheet, looking for the name. "Evan Rosier."

I trembled for a moment before stepping up in front of the class. I was fair in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I should survive.

Rosier pulled out his wand and waited, smirking at me. I shrugged my robe off so I was in my blouse and skirt, rolled up my sleeves, and pulled my wand out before bowing, as Tenebris instructed us. Rosier was the first to cast a spell.

"_Incarcerous_!" He bellowed, swiping the air.

I dodged without even lifting my wand. I shot a Conjunctivitis Curse at him, but he countered with an unnecessary bellow: "_Protego_!" Then, "_Locomotor_ _Mortis_!"

I didn't dodge this one in time. I teetered but whispered: "Rictusempra," and we both collapsed, me because my legs were locked, Rosier from gales of laughter.

I murmured the counter curse and stood up.

Meanwhile, Rosier couldn't get the spell out as he couldn't stop laughing. "Petrificus Totalus." I said, pointing my wand at him. However, he blocked it as he managed to gasp out the counter curse for the tickle curse.

"_Aguamenti_!" Rosier bellowed, but he was grinning. I was blasted with water. I raised my wand, preparing to shoot another filler-like spell at him when I realized my _white_ blouse was_ wet_. I changed tactics. "_Expelliarmus_!" I said, finally managing to be loud. His wand flew from his hand. And in the same movement, I waved my wand and cast that lovely spell that was quite popular nowadays and Rosier was hoisted up by his ankles. I caught his wand and turned around, putting my robes back on, flushed from anger and embarrassment.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and pointed his wand at me and cast a drying spell. I flushed even deeper. I hadn't even thought of that.

"Very good," Professor Tenebris said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. "That is how you duel. Miss Bales, let him down and shake his hand. I hesitantly moved forward.

I waved my wand and Rosier fell on the ground in a heap. He jumped to his feet immediately. I handed him his wand back and we shook hands. "I'll get you back," He hissed at me, crushing my hand.

Tenebris continued calling out pairs and had them duel, pointing out techniques. After the bell rang, I tried to speed out of the class. "Miss Bales, a moment please" Tenebris called. I froze at the door and turned slowly. The rest of the class departed with a bunch of 'oooh's. "You can go, Mister Black." Tenebris added to Sirius, who was loitering.

Sirius looked uncertain and stepped outside where I knew he would be waiting. "You may or may not recognize me," He said, approaching me. I backed away swiftly as he approached. "Obviously you do. Now, I'm going to make this easy. If you tell anyone—your mother's gone, got it?" He asked, grabbing my arm. I nodded and attempted wrenching my arm away, but he held on. "I'll be watching you," He hissed before letting me go. I all but ran out of the class room, not even bothering to acknowledge Sirius.

"Tessa—wait up," Sirius said, catching up to me. "He's a bastard." He added. I snorted and told him what Tenebris had said. Sirius just squeezed my hand comfortingly. It was then I realized he had been holding my hand. I shook my hand out of his and we walked side by side.

Classes continued in an uneventful way. However, I couldn't focus very well. All I could think about was if my parents were okay.

The following day, I felt immense relief when Knight flew into my pumpkin juice, spilling it over Sirius. He had a letter:

_Dear Tessa_

_Work is wonderful, as usual. I'm investigating a particularly nasty case of a man we believe mentally unstable. My Third Year was the hardest year for me—that was the year when I had Kappa Pox. I was gone for two months and when I came back, I had to make up all that work and take my exams. I hope you're doing well._

_We're fine,_

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad_

I breathed easier after that. I made it through. Arithmancy was with the Slytherins this year and Rosier was there. I was grateful for James and Remus in my class. Potions with Slughorn was ever the same. Lee was the worst partner, as ever. I began to feel a little better as my life fell into a habitual cycle.

On Wednesday, Defense Against the Dark Arts was less intense and I began to ease into my new life style of constant worry when Knight didn't come with the usual post, or when I passed Tenebris in the halls, and my constant companion, Sirius.

After Defense, we headed down to our first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the year. As I approached the meeting place, I stopped. I knew that face! It was so familiar! The professor was tall and lean with messy red hair, a beard, and blue eyes.

"Good afternoon!" He said, hauling a crate with him as he approached the crowd of students. "As you might have noticed, I was not at the feast; Instead, I was with my brother watching his match. My name is—"

He was interrupted as Lee approached, nudging his way to the front to stand with me. "Bloody hell, you're Plumbly's older brother, aren't you?" He said.

That's why I knew him. He was the older brother of the best Beater ever to have walked (or flown) this planet, Will Plumbly. They looked so alike.

"That's right, Mister…?" He asked.

"Jordan, Leander Jordan." He answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Plumbly said. Jordan smiled. "Right, as Mister Jordan pointed out, I am Professor Byron Plumbly. I was one of two students in my Year to go into a field in Magical Creatures." He said. "I went into a special study of unicorns and am teaching here as an intern. My friend, the other specializing in Magical Creatures, went to America researching that new dragon breed there, the—whatshamacallits," He said, snapping his finger trying to remember.

"The American Ironeye." I filled in.

"Yes, that's right. Five points to Gryffindor. Well, he and I were good friends at school and Freddy and I have talked to the Reserve Manager in Alaska about a study trip. The manager loved the idea and later this year we'll have a weekend fieldtrip to Alaska to study them. Of course you don't have to go, but it's a good opportunity for anyone going into the dragon field. Anyone interested in pursuing a career in any magical beast-studies?" He asked.

No one raised a hand.

"Well, that's about what I expected," Plumbly said, laughing.

"I remember you! You came with us to the World Cup when I was eight—you look a lot older." I said, suddenly realizing why he had been as familiar looking as he was.

Plumbly looked at me closely. "Oh, you're Tessa, aren't you? Your brother speaks highly of you." He said. I colored and shrugged modestly. We spent that period acquainting ourselves. Plumbly was pretty laid back, which was great for me. I had a feeling I was going to be swamped this year with OWL work.

By the end of the week, I was completely changed. I was once shy and hating loud obnoxious people; now, I was more talkative and even friends with the very people I once hated. I spent most of my time listening to Sirius and James talk loudly about pointless things and chiming in at odd times, causing them to stare at me as if they just realized I was there.

It was odd, being friends with Sirius and James and Peter. The only reason I was even hanging out with them was because Sirius happened to be the nearest wizard in my neighborhood. I think he felt the need to protect me after I came to him as vulnerable as I did.

I didn't want his sympathy. In fact, I wish he didn't know about my predicament.

Sirius, James and Peter were always goofing off. On Thursday evening, we were all in the common room. Remus and I were studying while James, Sirius, and Peter were playing pranks on Lily's boyfriend, McLaggen.

"Oi!" He said as his skin turned turquoise. "Knock it off, will you!" He yelled at them. Sirius and James just collapsed in laughter and I couldn't help myself as I grinned a bit.

Peter pulled out his wand and muttered a spell to change his hair color to green and silver. His hair turned a tiny bit. He scrunched up his face in concentration and tried again, this time succeeding.

"Great job, Pete," Sirius said, clapping him on his back while James applauded.

"Seriously!" Lily snapped. "Cut it out!"

I waved my wand and his skin turned pasty white once more. I then fixed his hair. "You guys are so immature," I informed them. Sirius grinned and James ruffled his hair to give himself that windblown look while Peter shrugged modestly.

"That was so lame," Remus said nodding in agreement with me and putting down his Runes book.

"Thank you, Remus," I said.

"I mean, if you _really_ want to get him, do something more original," He said.

"Remus!" I said, smacking him lightly on the chest.

He grinned at me. They were silent. Peter suddenly looked excited. "Hey, I've got an idea!" He said eagerly. "What if we made it so whenever he thinks about s—"

"—_ahem_!" Sirius said, sending a pointed look at me.

He glanced at me and changed his word choice, "Whenever he has not-nice thoughts about Evans, he turns bright red and gets really sweaty!" He said, rubbing his hands together.

"Yes!" Sirius said, high-fiving Peter.

Remus shook his head and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Alright guys," He said, writing the date on it. "We obviously will use the pigment jinx and a heating spell, but how will we assign it to thoughts?" He wrote down the two spells and turned towards them.

"So this is how you work out your famous pranks. An idea and a piece of parchment." I said, shaking my head in wonder at these boys.

They nodded. "Well," James said, "I guess you have to go to the library and research it." He said.

"Or," I said, "You can assign it to the physical reactions associated with such thoughts," I said. "See…" I took the piece of parchment and began explaining how to work my idea.

.

.

.

"This is going to be _brilliant_!" James said. I couldn't help but grin as Sirius shot the spell at McLaggen. He turned around to yell, but then he realized nothing had happened.

Yet.

"You guys didn't even do anything," He said, rolling his eyes as if we were stupid.

James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged eager looks.

My mouth dropped when Elle Brown walked by and his skin began changing. I glanced at James and Sirius, but they had an 'I thought so' look on their faces.

"Tiberius?" Lily asked, coming from her dorms. "Why are you all sweaty and re—_POTTER_! What did you do to him this time!" She asked, turning so fast her red hair swished and storming over to us.

Sirius answered. They had even decided who would take the brunt of the punishment/Lily. "Well, whenever this bloke thinks…er…thinks what all teenage boys think, he gets red and sweaty." He said laughing.

Lily glared at them then her eyes found me. "You let them?" She asked, furiously.

I just stared back at her, blankly. "Well, I guess McLaggen finds you very attractive when you're angry," I said, nodding to McLaggen who was soaking wet. She spared him a glance and her cheeks colored, but she wasn't ready to let this go.

"Potter! Black! Detention! And remove the spell _right now_!" Lily yelled. McLaggen quickly headed upstairs to his dorm.

James's humor fell away. "I think I'll leave it on," He said. "See how often he turns red and sweaty." He said in disgust. "He was on the Quidditch team last year, I hear him talk. You can do far better than this fool," He said.

"Oh, let me guess, I should come to my senses and marry you!" Lily shrieked angrily. She was red with anger and her eyes were dark and unhappy.

"I wasn't saying that, Evans," James said, still no humor gleaming from his eyes. "Just that you could do better than a guy that thinks with his dick rather than his head." He sounded calmer than I had ever heard the boy sound.

She opened her mouth and then closed it. Finally stormed off out of the Common Room, saying, "I'm going to get McGonagall right now."

"You guys are going to get in so much trouble!" I hissed at them.

Sirius shrugged. "This is nothing compared to what we did to Diggory—do you remember, James?" He asked and he, James, and Peter fell into hysterics.

"What did you do?" I asked curiously.

"You don't want to know," Sirius said.

"Let's just say we used an engorgio spell," James laughed.

I blinked rapidly and tried to forget what I had just heard. Even Remus was chuckling at the memory. "But what will happen to you?" I asked.

"Detention, twenty to fifty points from Gryffindor and a warning that she won't be so light next time," James said casually.

Lily came back fifteen minutes later followed by Professor McGonagall. "Potter, Black, explain yourselves." She barked out in a rather tired voice as she approached us.

"Well," Sirius said, treating it like a game. "Since you were teaching us those color-changing spells this morning we decided to test it out." He said.

"Miss Evans has a different story," She said. "Miss Evans says that you boys humiliated him by using spells involving thoughts?" She looked a bit confused.

"Well," I said, and everyone gave me surprised looks. "It was more a spell that went on reactions to thoughts—they're no legilimens." I said.

McGonagall looked stunned. "Miss Bales, were you part of this?"

"I merely provided them with the means of carrying out their idea." I said innocently.

"This better not become a habit," She told me. "Lift the spell from the boy," She told me.

"But professor!" James argued, "I'm trying to prove a point!" He begged.

"Right now." She ignored James.

I nodded. She followed me up the boys' dorm stairs. "Don't tell Miss Evans, but I am impressed with your grasp of spell merging and application." She said, not even looking at me. Pride swept through me for a moment at the complement. I banged on the Seventh Years door and hollered: "Girls coming in, you've got ten seconds to cover yourselves!" I said. I waited the said amount of time before entering. Michael Bell was shirtless and staring at me like he had never seen me before.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, then he saw McGonagall. "What's wrong?"

"Where's McLaggen?" McGonagall barked out.

Bell pointed to a bed with the curtains pulled around it.

"Mister McLaggen, Miss Bales is here to remove the spell," She said. The curtains opened and he peered around the curtain, his skin back to normal. I waved my wand and removed the spell silently.

"There you go," I said before turning on my heel and leaving, without waiting for McGonagall.

When I reached the Common Room, James wore a defeated expression. "And girls say _boys_ are stupid," He murmured, staring at the girls' dormitory stairs. "McLaggen is _way_ worse than Diggory ever was. I don't know what's wrong with her. She doesn't want me, fine, but she can do so much better than him!" James was muttering.

I gave Sirius a questioning look. He approached me, pulling me aside while Remus engaged James in conversation. "Lily was unnecessarily harsh. But James is right—even I can see she could do better." Sirius said.

I sighed. "Well she sure doesn't want to hear that her boyfriend isn't good enough from the guy she despises most in the school. I sure wouldn't." I said. Boys really _are_ stupid.

"Tessa, you don't get it," Sirius said, sitting on the couch, beckoning for me to do the same. "James is in love with her," Sirius said.

"Sirius, he's fifteen years old." I said, sitting down.

"You don't see him after their really bad bouts." Sirius said. "James just… he's at a loss of what to do."

"But…" I said, dumbfounded. Don't get me wrong, I believe in young love but…fifteen is a little too young. "How long has he been _in love_ with her?" I asked.

"Look, this isn't my business to tell. If you don't believe this, then fine. I don't expect it of you." Sirius said. He stood up and we went over to James and Remus. James quieted when I approached and I felt a little stung. But after all, we had only been talking for a couple of days and this seemed extremely personal.

He looked so sad. I decided to do what I did for Freddy whenever he was sad. I stood behind James and rubbed his shoulders comfortingly. He looked up at me and chuckled, and took and squeezed my hand as he stood up. "Goodnight, Theresa," He said.

"Tessa," I said. He nodded and he, Sirius, and Remus headed up to their dorms. I decided to do the same. When I opened the door, I found Alice comforting Lily, who had puffy eyes.

"Lily," I said, rushing over to her. I had been so friendly recently, I noted. "What's—?"

Her eyes flashed angrily. "That was horrible of them!" She said. "They're such bullies—that was humiliating!" She moaned into Alice's shoulders.

"Why are _you_ humiliated?" I asked hesitantly.

"That spell—was it really what they said it was?" She asked in a shaky voice.

I nodded mutely. She let out another wail. I knew she was thinking about how red and sweaty he was when she had first gone down, before he had looked at her. "But it was only us five who knew about it!" I added hurriedly.

"But—James knew! And Sirius! They are such horrible people. This is my own private life that they're butting into!" She cried. "And you're lucky McGonagall didn't give you detention! I can't believe you Therese!" She cried. Stunned, I got ready for bed and had to listen to Lily cry for an hour or so. That didn't make a difference though, sleep was not coming easy to me.

'Lucky' Lily had said. What a funny word to try and apply to me this year.

_Un_lucky, more like. For example:

On Friday, after my Arithmancy class, I had a free period. I wanted to get up to Gryffindor Tower and see if Knight had brought back a letter from my parents so I took a shortcut through a small hallway that a lot of people were scared to go down because it was the Bloody Barron's frequented hall. I didn't care, ghosts never particularly scared me.

As I was walking, I heard someone yell: "_Incarcerous_!" And cords wrapped around my legs and I fell.

"I've got you this time, Bales." Rosier came into view as I began thrashing against my bonds. "Your friends aren't here to protect you now, are they?" He said in a low and dangerous voice.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat.

He grinned. "Two things really—to show your daddy we're watching you," He said, pulling out a camera and snapping a picture. "And to get you for humiliating me in class." He said.

I almost rolled my eyes at his stupidity. But it wasn't worth the risk of a bad reaction from him. He pulled out his wand and pointed it between my eyes. I gazed at him. He pointed it at my mouth and cast a gagging spell. Then he pointed at my chest and I was filled with dread as he whispered softly.

"_Crucio_,"


	4. Chapter Three: A New Normal

Chapter 4: Chapter Three: A New Normal

Pain.

I can't begin to tell you the agony I was in.

There was no need for the gag; the pain was so great I couldn't produce any sound—unless you count the noise of my thrashing and heaving against the bonds. Tears leaked out of my eyes and thrashing only made it—the pain—worse, but I couldn't hold still through the pain!

Thought left me. For those moments my thought process stopped entirely. I could barely breathe because the inflation of my lungs to inhale was tortuous.

In other words—

Pain.

.

.

.

After an eternity, Rosier lifted the spell. I took short rasping breaths at the relief of pain and closed my eyes. Then the pain came again. One clear thought I had in those agonizing moments was how wonderful it would be if I passed out—the pain would be gone!

"Rosier?" I heard a familiar but quite baffled shout in the distance and the pain left me again as Rosier lost his focus. I panted and a voice murmured the counter curse and I was free from my bonds. I couldn't stand up or move much—my body was too sore.

Remus Lupin came into my foggy line of sight. He looked horrified and he quickly cast a binding spell on Rosier to make sure he didn't run."I'm taking you straight to Dumbledore," He said.

A convulsion of fear swept through me. If he took Rosier to Dumbledore, who knows what Rosier's dad would do! I grabbed Remus's leg. "No!" I managed to whisper, shaking my throbbing head violently. I stilled my head only when I felt nauseous.

"Tessa—he used—" Remus began, staring at me in shock.

"I know what he did," I spat, trying to heave myself into a sitting position. Remus knelt down and helped me. "And I'm telling you, don't!" I said. My voice kept breaking and it was very hoarse.

"I can't just let him get away with torturing you!" Remus said, horrified.

I realized I was trembling. "You can and you will. For my sake." I said. Remus stared at me and shook his head, looking thoroughly confused.

"Look at yourself, Tessa. You can barely move and—he _TORTURED_ you, I can't just let that slide!" He was now indignant.

"Please, Remus," I said, grabbing his hand. "Please don't tell," I tried. He shook his head. He looked horrified and furious now. I guess the reality of the situation was sinking in.

"Why? Why do you want to let this go?" He asked.

I clenched my fists in frustration. I couldn't see a way to bullshit my way around this. I had no choice but to tell him. "Remus, his father is holding my mother hostage and I don't want anything to happen to her!" I hissed. Remus stared at me blankly, processing. I'm sure that was the last reason he would expect to hear. His face crumpled in anger—he too saw that there was no way to get the little shit back.

Rosier chuckled under his bonds. "Damn right,"

I pulled out my wand. My hand was trembling horribly and my shoulders ached as I lifted my arm to release Rosier, who spat at me and hurried away.

Remus stared in confusion. "Have you told anyone else about your mother?" He asked finally.

"Just Sirius—and I wouldn't have if I hadn't been so unstable." I said. I tried to get up but the ache still lingered.

Remus stopped me and lifted me bridle style. Even then, it still hurt where his grip was, but it beat walking. "Sorry," He murmured as I winced.

Somewhere on the way to Gryffindor Tower, I passed out. When I awoke, I was laying on a bed. I lay with my eyes closed. The bed smelled a little sweaty but masked by the odor soap. Like a boy. I opened my eyes.

I wasn't in my bed nor was I in the Hospital Wing. I sat up. To my great pleasure, there was a lot less aching. I saw James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus talking worriedly. Remus was sitting on a bed while James and Sirius were sitting on the floor and Peter was sitting criss-cross on another bed. Merlin, the Marauders were beautiful.

"Well, it's about time you woke up." Sirius grinned, coming to sit next to me on the bed. I grimaced at him in response. "Tessa—what happened?" He asked, looking at me with extreme worry.

"Rosier—he ambushed me in the Barron's hall."

"Why were you going down that one?" Peter piped up.

"Because—" I suddenly remembered why I had been in such a hurry. "Has Knight returned?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said, snapping his fingers at the sudden thought. "James, where'd you put the letter?" James looked around and patted his pockets and a moment later, he produced a letter.

To my surprise, it was written by my father. All my letters thus far had been written by my mother.

_Dear Tessa,_

_I got the picture. Are you okay? Write back as soon as possible—the associate said you had been hurt. Tessa, please answer as soon as possible, I am so worried._

_Your mother and I are worried sick, but unharmed._

_With infinite love,_

_Dad_

"How long have I been out?" I asked. How had Dad received the picture so fast?

"Around four or five hours—classes already ended. The letter came like an hour ago. Why? Is everything alright?" Remus answered.

"I think so," I said. The associate—he must have been referring to Rosier Senior. "Can I borrow quill and parchment?" I asked.

_Dad_

_I'm fine. Don't worry about me. The stupid fool was caught by a prefect. I'm more worried about you. How is work? Are you really going to get promoted?_

_With even more infinite love,_

_Your daughter_

That would be good enough. I called Knight over—I swear, that bird and I had a connection; he always came when I was ready to give him a letter. He held his leg out and left without any trouble.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What did I miss in class?" I asked.

"Tenebris was _pissed_ at Rosier—he held him back after class," Sirius said.

"Good," I said tiredly.

"We learnt about Venomous Tentacula in Herbology and Tenebris went over vampires and how to fight them with an essay due Wednesday on how defend yourself." Remus answered. I nodded my thanks and stood up and stretched my sore body.

"I'm going to go take a nap in my own bed," I said, grabbing my bag and heading down the stairs.

I didn't sleep well.

In truth, I was terrified. Whenever I closed my eyes, I could hear Rosier's voice whispering the horrible curse. My blood boiled when I thought of him bragging to his friends. It took a monster of a teenager to perform that curse with such effectiveness. I shivered. There was something wrong with Rosier. After I fell asleep, I was bombarded with images of my mother being brutally murdered with me in chains screaming till my throat bled and Rosier turning slowly to me with a sadistic grin.

I woke up sweating. It was three in the morning. While I lay in the dark, my mind played tricks on me. It seemed like the shadows were moving. I knew it was my imagination, but it kept me wide awake.

I decided to head down to the common room where it was lighter. I sat down on the couch and brought my knees to my chest and watched the fire. Slowly my eyes drooped shut and I fell asleep once more.

I had another nightmare involving even worse scenarios with Rosier. I awoke from someone shaking me. I sat bolt upright and saw a second year looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?" He asked.

I nodded. "Just having a nightmare." I answered. He looked at me shrewdly.

"If they persist, I'd see someone for a prescription in dreamless sleep potion." He said knowledgeably. I nodded, smiling at him. He left up the boys dorm stairs. I must have been screaming in my sleep.

Boy, I was glad it was the weekend.

Saturday I sat in the common room all day with one or all of the Marauders. It was nice having them worry about me. They made me play games with them, like exploding snap and wizard chess.

Remus was the best because he helped me with my homework, which really distracted me. I was the type of person who would sit down and start on my homework and not look up until I finished. The world around me disappeared and I focused on that task. I remembered I had promised Slughorn to come by and do some extra credit work on Sunday, tomorrow.

My mind kept wandering to my parents—were they okay? The worst part was feeling utterly helpless. I just had to sit back and wait for something to happen. I strained myself—in between homework and games—to think of something-anything I could do. It distressed me and a couple of times I nearly had a meltdown.

Sirius had apparently explained everything he knew to James, Peter, and Remus, because no one questioned me.

"Don't," James said out of the blue. It was just the two of us. Sirius was off getting food—boys and their empty pits for stomachs—and Remus was in the Hospital Wing, talking to the matron about visiting his mother for this year. Peter was in the library, no doubt struggling to master a transfiguration spell, turning a hedge hog into a pincushion.

"Don't what?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"Sirius told me everything he knew," James said. "And I know you're trying to figure out something to do. But don't beat yourself up." He said soothingly. He put an arm around me and pulled me so I was leaning against him.

I shook my head. "I am completely useless—in fact, I'm even worse, I'm fuel for them—they can use me to threaten my dad and—and I have to sit here and act as if nothing's wrong!" I said.

"Tessa." James said firmly. "You need to relax and let yourself be distracted. Thinking about your parents makes everything worse. Right now, all you can do is live your life." He said. "This sucks. I know. But, as I am sure you realize—there's nothing you can do. So stop stressing. Your parents—they're fine."

I sniffled. He was right. The most I could do for myself would be to act as if everything was well. He pulled me tight against him. He reminded me of my brother, Freddy. He would always hold me till I felt better.

On Sunday, I worked with Professor Slughorn all day. Scarcely had I stepped into the Common Room that evening when Sirius and James ambushed me. They dragged me over to the notice board where Michael had posted signup sheets.

James put an inked quill in my hand and I really had no choice but to sign up. Not that I'd that ever tell them, but I had originally planned on trying out this year. During the summer, I had realized how much I actually enjoyed playing Quidditch and had decided to bring my new broom with me to school.

The next Saturday James and Sirius dragged me to the Quidditch pitch for tryouts so I pulled on my sweatpants and a red tank top. When they saw the broom I carried, their jaws dropped. "Is that—?"

"A Meteorbolt 76? Yep. My dad's a broom-fanatic. When he saw me this summer flying the way I did, he pulled some strings and got me the Meteorbolt before they released it in August," I explained smirking at their dumbstruck looks. I led the way down to the field. "He's crazy about antique brooms—the first broom I rode was the original Cleansweep, the 1926? Yeah. Of course, as soon as I learned to fly properly, he let me ride—for my birthday last year—his—wait for it—"

I paused for effect, watching their anticipation.

"The Oakshaft 79."

"No!" James gasped in amazement, almost salivating. I nodded. "But that—that's almost a hundred years old!" He moaned.

"One of the classics, made in 1879," I said.

"How does it fly?" Sirius asked in awe.

"Really well—they stopped making it because it's a right pain when you sit on it—well for guys. No cushioning charm would work, but I feel virtually no pain. It only hurts when I fly it for hours and hours. Unfortunately, they went out of business." I said. James and Sirius had dazed looks on their faces.

"Do you have it? With you, that is?" James asked.

"No, it's my dad's," I answered. "He would just about die if he put it in danger of being stolen or damaged."

"Well are you ready for tryouts?" James asked.

I shrugged. "I really don't know if I'm good—I only have my brother to compare myself to, so…" I said.

"Only one way to find out," James said and we stepped into the pitch. There were a lot of kids trying out, it seemed. Michael Bell, captain and Chaser, raised an eyebrow at me. "Well—this is a change. Our resident quidditch hater is trying out? What position?" He asked. Bell had always taken it personally when I scoffed at quidditch.

"Beater," I answered.

He raised his other brow so they were both level.

"Alright," He called out to everyone milling about. "Here's how this is gonna go: I'm going to open up the chaser's tryouts. If you are not in Gryffindor, please go," He said. There was laughter. "Chasers, I want you to fly around the pitch, fastest three make it to the next tests. Oh, and you can only tryout for one position, got it? Good."

Bell gestured for them all to go prepare to mount their brooms. He headed onto the field, beckoning James to come with him. "On your marks," He said. A little Black Second Year took off and fell a few seconds later. There was a ripple of laughter but the kid ran back and mounted again. "Get set," He said and the boy jerked, but didn't start. "GO!" Bell yelled.

To everyone's astonishment, the Second Year managed to snag third place and the next round. The boy began yelling and hollering when Michael pointed at him.

"Very good, what's your name?" Michael praised the boy.

"Rodney Walker," The boy answered, bobbing around in joy.

"Alright, Walker, Spinnet and White, stay—everyone else, leave or at least sit in the stands—no Giva, I said you can only tryout for one position!" Bell hollered in exasperation. "Alright you three," He said, turning to face them. "Potter's going to be Keeper, try and score." He told them. They nodded. James flew to the hoops and waited. Spinnet and White were good with good technique, but little Walker had raw talent. He was a pro-to –be.

"I think they're leaning towards Spinnet," Sirius said beside me, watching Brad Spinnet score.

I shook my head. "They're fools if they don't pick Walker," I said.

"Why? He's twelve and little." Sirius said, facing me with a questioning look.

I pointed to him. "Look, he has _skill _and that can be easily refined—see how he puts too much into feinting –and there! He just scored by shooting through a feint." I said. "And anyone with any knowledge of brooms knows he's a natural born flyer." I said.

"I guess you're right." Sirius said.

"Alright you three, good!" Bell called. "That was excellent! I'm just going to have a chat with James. We'll be right with you."

Sirius grabbed my wrist and dragged me over. "Who are you thinking about?" Sirius asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we're thinking White." Bell said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not Walker?" I interjected.

"Because he's twelve and White knows what he's doing." Bell said, rolling his eyes as if I were ignorant.

"Yeah but Walker is a professional waiting to be refined." I said, surprised no one bothered considering him. "With the way that kid flies, it's instinct—there's no problem with his flying, and as for Chasing—he's a natural born athlete. I say take him on. He'll be great." I said.

Bell thought carefully. "I think I'll have to give them a practice and see if you're right." He said. He turned and approached the three eager looking boys. "Walker and White, I'm going to schedule a final tryout for you two tomorrow. Rodney began jumping around the way twelve year olds do when they're overjoyed.

"Now we'll move onto Keeper," Michael said, smiling as the boy screamed to everyone he passed that he made callbacks.

The Keepers were all incompetent except Henry Wood, a Third Year who apparently had the blood of Keepers in him.

The Seekers came next because they were the largest group left. After many races and obstacle courses, Bell selected Ann Dresdin, a Sixth Year who had the sleek Lightningarrow 101.

Finally, Beaters came. There were only three others trying out. Bell gave us instructions to knock Sirius off his broom. Jack Carter lost his grip on his bat and it flew at Sirius, who had excellent reflexes and dodged easily. Tanya Freemont managed to hit the bludger, but was not expecting Sirius to return the bludger, even as lightly as he did. Bradley Deedermont thwacked the bludger three times before he fell.

"Bales, you're up." Bell said, sounding doubtful. He looked disappointed that he had no good beaters trying out. I mounted my Meteorbolt and launched into the air. Bell released the bludger and it zoomed towards me. I cracked it at Sirius. Sirius seemed surprised by my easy hit and gently sent it back. I thwacked it harder. He sent it back harder. This last time I cracked it back and Sirius missed it, dodging it instead. He looked thoroughly impressed.

Bell's mouth was hanging open by the time he signaled for us to come down. I looked round for the bludger. I grinned and when the bludger came at me, flying backwards in order to balance out the forces and it throughthrew me back several yards as I caught it. I flew down and slammed it back into its restraints.

"Well done. Welcome to the team Therese." Michael said, holding out a hand.

"I had no idea you could play like that," Sirius said, completely in awe.

I shrugged modestly.

"You're like the best Beater I've ever seen," James chimed in.

"Will Plumbly," I responded.

"Well he's professional," James said, rolling his eyes. "That was fantastic. Lee is going to be blown away when he sees you play.

"I know. I was planning on taking him by surprise this year along with my Meteorbolt." I said.

"What's the big deal about that Meteorbolt?" Lily asked. James, Sirius and I had been talking about it for along time and Lily was completely within her rights to ask. "It's just a broom, isn't it?"

Now she had gone too far. She can ask what the big deal is, but there is no such thing as 'just a broom.'

"Lily," I said, staring at her in complete seriousness. This was no joking matter. "There is no 'just a broom.' Got it? The 'big deal' about the Meteorbolt is that it is the best broom on the market—and for good reason! It flies faster than the new Cleansweep. It'll be a while before they make a better broom."

"But—oh never mind." She said, rolling her eyes. I shook my head as her ignorance of Quidditch.

We were in the Common Room after tryouts. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and I had sat down and began to speak Quidditch when Lily meandered over to us and tried to join the conversation. Proven fact: Muggle-borns will never truly appreciate Quidditch.

On Tuesday, I sat beside James in Transfiguration. My thoughts drifted towards my parents. I was so useless. There had to be something I could do. James grabbed my arm, pulling me from my thoughts. "Hey, what do you think would happen if I transfigured Sirius's hair into porcupine quills?" He asked. I laughed out loud causing McGonagall to glare at me. Sirius turned around questioningly, wanting in on the joke. James and I shook our heads.

Until Saturday, I had had no idea how intuitive James was. He could tell when I was thinking about my parents. All last week, he would start talking to me whenever I fell into my depressions and successfully distract me. Like suggesting pranks, or telling jokes, or asking for help.

The next day Michael Bell posted the new Gryffindor team. I guess he made the tie-breaker with his chasers.

Gryffindor Quidditch Team:

Chasers:

Michael Bell

James Potter

Rodney Walker

Keeper:

Henry Wood

Beaters:

Therese Bales

Sirius Black

Seeker:

Ann Dresdin

He also posted a practice schedule. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays there were two hour practices and four hour practices before game week and a five hour practice the Saturday before games.

I wondered if James had any say in my hectic and conveniently _distracting_ new schedule.


	5. Chapter Four: What The Prophet Said

Hi guys. I'm sorry I take so long to update. I edited this myself so I apologize for any errors. Feel free to point them out.

* * *

Chapter Four: What _The Prophet_ Said

"Oof!"

I gasped, grasping my broom, trying not to fall off.

Sirius had just sent a bludger at me and caught me unawares. It hit me squarely on my back and knocked the wind out of me.

"Bales—always be aware of where the Bludgers are!" Bell yelled at me from the hoops. How the hell was he aware of them when he was supposed to be training little Rodney? I suppose he is truly a natural at quidditch.

I whirled around and in a spurt of anger hit the bludger, which was coming back for a second shot, with all my might. It flew into the hoop pole, right below Bell. He looked down and blinked in surprise. "You dented it," He said in wonder.

I felt heat rush to my face. I flew to the ground. It was lucky I missed. The same thought seemed to have occurred to Michael Bell. He pelted at me. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? THAT COULD HAVE KILLED ME!" He bellowed. Merlin, was he loud! He was _definitely_ going to wake up with a sore throat tomorrow. I winced as my ears throbbed.

"Sorry—just lost my temper." I said quietly.

"You _lost_ your temper? You could have killed me!" He said, exasperated. "At the very _least_ I would have been in the hospital for a few months! Losing your temper is no excuse!"

Sirius flew up to Bell. "Give her a break," He said calmly. Bell opened his mouth but James flew over to Bell. I stomped away from them. I was not in the mood to defend myself.

"You really have a bad temper, don't you?" Sirius followed me.

"I'm just tired." I grumbled. My sleeping habits were changing as I began to have restless nights.

Sirius rolled his head back and laughed. "This is only the second day of practice! You just wait." He said.

"I meant the prospect of this every week is tiring," I muttered under my breath.

He continued to laugh. Finally, he calmed down and grinned cheekily at me.

"That's quite an arm you've got there," Sirius said.

"Thanks," I replied, flexing my arm jokingly.

Sirius reached forward and felt my arm and put on a high, girly voice. "Oh Tessa! You're so muscular!" He joked. We both burst into laughter.

Sirius made small talk for a little while and I found myself calming. I was just about to suggest we get back to practice when Bell beat me to the punch.

"Black! Bales! Get your arses back in the air and practice," He said.

"Come on, we've got half an hour left. Let's knock out those drills," He said. I nodded and kicked off.

That night I had a particularly horrible nightmare. I was playing quidditch and I sent a lethal Bludger at Rosier, but it hit Sirius instead. I approached him in hysterics and in the background Rosier was laughing cruelly. As I knelt down by the bloody body of Sirius, I noticed my mother kneeling on his other side. "Tessa—are you going to let me die like you did your friend?"

"NO!" I yelled. "I'd never! You know that mother!"

"If you don't do something soon, I'll surely die,"

"Therese!" I whirled around and saw my brother. "I can't believe you're going to let mom die! It's going to be YOUR fault!"

"What can I do?" I cried.

But Freddy turned his back on me, his eyes cold. My mother collapsed and I knew she was dead.

"It's okay, Therese," I turned and saw a cold face showing fake concern. "She's only your mother. She was going to die as an auror anyways. I would have had my faithful servant Rosier take her out. Come with me,"

I took Lord Voldemort's hand.

"Kill your father!" He hissed, his hands trailing down my back. Suddenly, I was watching my father work in his home-office. My father was sitting at his desk, his reading-glasses on, looking a letter. I raised my wand, almost against my will. "Avada Kedavra," I heard myself saying. Suddenly, a rush of pure glee filled me. I was feeling Voldemort's glee as my own.

"Perfect!" Voldemort hissed before drawing me in for a kiss.

I woke up screaming like I had never screamed before.

"Therese?" I heard Lily's worried voice from across the room. My dormmates were grumbling groggily but Lily was wide awake and at my side. "Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, just a nightmare." I said, wiping tears from my face.

"That's the fifth time in four days," She said. "You should really see Madam Pomfrey for some dreamless sleep." Lily said. She pushed my hair from my sweaty forehead.

I shook my head. "Never," I said in disgust.

"Why?" Lily asked, surprised at my firm reaction.

"My uncle took it and he ended up abusing it—I don't want to risk getting hooked." I said.

Lily sighed and patted my shoulder and went back to sleep.

I shivered, recalling my dream. I didn't fall back asleep.

That Saturday was a Hogsmeade trip. I was going with James and Sirius—Remus was visiting his mother and (quite surprisingly) Peter had a date.

In the common room, my roommates were yawning and had shadows under their eyes. "Alice?" I heard Frank Longbottom asking with worry. "You look tired. Are you sleeping okay?"

I turned away, grabbing my arm self-consciously and biting my lip.

"No, my roommate Therese is…well, she's having nightmares," Alice said, sounding worried. "They've been happening for about a week and a half now. Last night she seemed to have her worst yet."

"Tessa?" I whirled around to see James and Sirius staring at me, worried. By the looks of it, they had heard Alice as well.

I folded my arms and turned away. I didn't need to explain myself to the likes of them.

James pulled me so I was facing them once more.

"I don't wanna talk about it." I said quickly, before either of them could speak.

James and Sirius exchanged glances. "All week? Have you had any sleep?" Sirius asked finally.

"Enough," I answered, making to go down to breakfast.

"No," James said forcefully. He took my chin and made me look him in the eyes. "You're way too tired. You need to go take a nap."

"No!" I said, staring at him with my stubborn eyes. Then I broke eye contact. "I don't wanna have another nightmare." I whispered.

"Com'on," James said, dragging me to the boys dorm. "We'll wake you if you show signs of having a nightmare." He said.

"I am not sleeping in one of your beds. That is downright inappropriate." I said, trying to turn around. James picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder.

"You did after Rosier…you know." James said.

"That doesn't count—I wasn't conscious," I complained, pounding my fists into James's back.

"And if you sleep, you still won't." James countered. I most definitely should have seen that hole in my argument. I guess I was just that tired. He opened a door and deposited me onto a bed. "Here, this is Remus's bed, it'll be cleaner than your own." James said.

"I don't want to sleep in his bed without his knowledge." I argued weakly.

"You can sleep in Sirius's." James suggested.

"Gross! No!" I said.

"Picky." James tutted.

"Oi! I resent that!" Sirius said.

"Peter! Lookin' great," I said, noticing Peter who seemed frozen in the act of putting on his shirt—a polo which he had his arms through, though he hadn't put his head through.

He blushed and put his head through. "Thanks, Tessa," He smiled. What a cutie! He always looked a bit pudgy in his uniform but he wasn't. He was large, but it was more muscular than pudge.

"Who was it you were going with?" I asked.

"Sophia De La Rosa." He said, looking in the mirror and finger coming his hair into place.

"Ooh! That Mexican chick in Ravenclaw? She's pretty!" I said.

"I know," Peter said. "She was dropping some obvious hints. Thought I'd do her a favor." He added. "She's Casey McDonegal ex girlfriend. I heard he cheated on her with her cousin, Isabella, last year. Heard they got in a total bitch-fight." He checked his pants and found the need to zip his fly, fixed his collar, smoothed his shirt, made a 'cool' face at the mirror and left with a spring in his step.

I raised an eyebrow as he strutted out of the room. "Well, that was...interesting."

"Goodnight," Sirius said, flopping on his bed.

"I'm not going to sleep." I said testily.

"Just try," James said, stuffing my face into Remus's pillow. I grumbled a bit more, but fell asleep.

I awoke with that heavy feeling in my limbs, that 'damn was that a good nap' feeling. I sat up and stretched and found James and Sirius murmuring to each other, looking over a book. I rubbed my eyes. James and Sirius reading? On a Saturday, at that? Maybe I was still asleep.

"Oh Tessa!" Sirius beamed. "You're awake!" He said.

I smiled in return. "How long was I out?" I asked.

Sirius looked at his bedside clock. "About four hours," He answered.

"Man, that was a power-nap." I said, stretching.

"No nightmares?" Sirius asked.

I shook my head.

"What was yours about, the one last night?" James asked, looking up from the book.

I thought about the thrill of pleasing the Dark Lord by killing my father. "I don't want to talk about it." I said.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "It's usually nice to talk it out."

"I said no," I snapped. They looked taken aback.

"I'm hungry." I complained, changing the subject.

"I'll go get us some food," James said. He left and it was just Sirius and I.

He sat down beside me. "Please talk about it." Hesaid. "Just see if talking it out makes you feel better. Just this once." He pleaded. I hesitated. I felt strangely compelled to tell him.

I sighed and told him my dream, minus the part where I kissed with the Dark Lord.

Sirius's only response was that he would have dodged me easily with his amazing flying skills. I laughed at that and rolled my eyes. The cocky bastard. It didn't really make a difference, talking about my dream.

Sirius and I began talking Quidditch politics until James burst in with a tray of eggs and sandwiches and apple juice. I raised an eyebrow at the food.

"Sirius, do you remember Shuntbumps?" James asked, dropping the tray in my lap.

Sirius's face brightened. "How could I forget? I used to play with Regulus—I'd always win, the scrawny little tosser," He said.

"I forgot about it!" James said.

I grinned. "I remember! My neighborhood growing up had a tournament for different age groups until they were eight. I was always champ." I said, thinking back.

"Wanna play?" James beamed.

"Hell yeah!" Sirius said.

"Um," I said. "I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I really don't wanna break my Meteorbolt."

"We can take the Slytherin's brooms." Sirius said. "Regulus has got a Nimbus, it's not too bad." He said.

An hour later found the three of us with Slytherin brooms on the empty Quidditch Pitch. I was on Regulus's Nimbus, Sirius on Rodolphus's Cleansweep, and James on Rabaston's Meteorbolt 75.

Shuntbumps was a broom game usually played by children. It was like jousting with your hands—the object of the game was to knock the other player off their broom. It was too violent for older children and thus it was not a real sport.

We decided to play five feet from the ground and together we cast a cushioning charm on the ground.

Sirius kicked off and forty feet away from him, James did the same.

"On your marks," I called out. "Get set…" I dragged out. "Shuntbump!" I yelled and James and Sirius pelted at each other. They got their arms tangled and ended up both falling off. I burst into laughter. Sirius and James began laughing as they bounced to their feet.

"Come on!" I called out, mounting my broom. "Who wants to face me so I can show you how it's done!" I said. James mounted his broom and Sirius started us.

"Shuntbump!" He yelled. James and I flew into each other. I meant to shove at his waist, but his hands caught mine and we were having a pushing competition. James swung me over him in a half circle and I swung him around me in a half circle. James brought our hands together and transferred one into the other hand so he had a free arm.

"HEY!" I yelled, trying to wrench a hand free. "No fair!" James caught my shin and yanked upward, flipping me off my broom.

"And James is the WINNER!" James yelled and he began cheering for himself. I rolled my eyes and leapt up and caught his foot. He looked surprised and I pulled him down so I was at eyelevel with his broom. I yanked it out from under him and dropped it over his fallen figure.

"OI!" He yelled and jumped to his feet. I laughed and ran as he showed signs of pursuit. I picked up my broom and leapt into the air in one fluid movement and sped away, James hard on my heels. His Meteorbolt was a little faster than the Nimbus and he caught up to me and yanked me off my broom so I was dangling thirty feet in the air by his arm.

I screamed and clutched his broom for dear life. James quickly flew to the ground and I jumped down as soon as I was close enough. He landed and we both fell over in laughter.

"What are you kids doing?" We all turned to see Professor Plumbly staring at the three of us. (Sirius had been in fits of laughter since I knocked James off his broom illegally.)

"Playing Shuntbumps," I informed him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little old to be playing that?" He asked.

The three of us shook our heads vigorously.

"My brother and I played that when we were little," He said, smiling fondly at the memory. "That's how he realized he was going to be a Beater," He said. "He gave me quite a few concussions when we were kids." He snapped out of his reverie. "But you guys could seriously hurt each other, so I'm going to have to be a buzzkill and tell you to stop." He said.

"But we're only playing like four feet off the ground and we cast a cushioning charm!" James said and Sirius flopped onto his back to emphasize the cushioning charm.

Professor Plumbly looked at us darkly. "Just don't let it grow—I don't want this to become a club or sport—people would really get hurt." He said. He laughed. "Especially Slytherins versus Gryffindor."

"Thanks Professor!" We chorused.

He sighed and walked off.

"Hahaa!" James cried and we did a threeway highfive.

We continued to play for another two hours. I was the first to stop. Boys had way too much energy. They landed half an hour later and we trudged back to the castle after returning the battered brooms.

"That was awesome!" Sirius said, flopping onto a couch.

"I completely agree." I said, plopping down beside him.

"I didn't know you could knock people off their brooms so…gracefully, Tess." Sirius said.

I shrugged. I had been doing a variation of a sloth-grip roll and grabbing their ankles and flipping them off their brooms. Sirius and James would just crash into each other, but exercised caution when knocking me over. Such gentlemen. "Oh, it was nothing," I said airily.

We were all bruised and James had a busted lip. "What did you guys do?" Lily asked, eyeing our bruises.

"Played Shuntbumps," James said. A few heads turned at the mention of the old game that all the pure-blood wizards had played as children.

"What's—" Lily asked.

Alice smiled. "It's a game that kids play—they try and knock each other off their brooms." She explained. "It's too dangerous to be a professional sport." She added, gesturing to us, bruised all over.

I grinned cheekily at her. She raised an eyebrow. "And—this, this is fun?" She asked.

I nodded vigorously. She shook her head in confusion.

Frank turned to us. "You guys played Shuntbumps? That makes me want to play," He said.

"Well, Plumbly told us not to," I said. "Something about it being 'too dangerous.'" I said, rolling my eyes.

I turned to James and Sirius. "So when will Remus be back?" I asked. James shrugged. "Tomorrow or Monday." He responded. I nodded, a little confused at his spaciness.

"Where's Peter?" I asked suddenly. James and Sirius glanced at each other.

"No idea. Let's see if he came back," James said and we all headed upstairs. We heard the shower running when we entered. I glanced at James and Sirius who were looking at each other worriedly.

"What?" I asked, looking from James to Sirius.

"Pete showering in the middle of the day means one thing: he's been working out." James said.

"And this is bad because...?" I asked.

"Peter is a creature of habit. He works out four times a week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. If he works out any other time, it means he's really upset." Sirius explained before banging on the bathroom door. "Pete! You alright?" He called through the door.

"Yeah, fine," The shower stopped. "Just fucking peachy. We met in the Great Hall. She said she had to use the toilets before we go. So I wait out there for a fucking forty five minutes before I realize the bitch fucking stood me up." We could hear him banging around the bathroom as he spoke. "I didn't even fucking do anything! She just wanted to fucking see you or James. Fuck, even Remus instead of me. I fucking hate my life." The door swung open and a red faced Peter fumed out, just in a pair of sweats in the midst of pulling a shirt on. He caught sight of me. "Just fucking dandy, now Tessa knows how damn pathetic I am." He practically snarled as he stormed out of the room.

I stood frozen in shock.

"Yeah, Pete can be a real drama queen." Sirius said.

"Is that how he really feels? That he's pathetic?" I asked.

James and Sirius shrugged uncomfortably. "Go find him, I won't bother him for a while, if that's what he wants." I said, pushing them out of the dorm in front of me.

Thursday, Sirius's birthday, was double Potions. I was thinking hard, not listening to Slughorn. I really wanted to give him something great—he had helped me a lot since the year began.

"Lee," I said, turning towards him. An idea had struck me. "Can you make this potion?" I waved a hand at the board. "I want to work on something else," I said. He gave me an 'are you serious? Have you seen me make a potion?' kind of face. "I wanted to make Sirius something for his birthday," I explained.

Lee raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna be sorry." He said. I shrugged and headed to the supplies cabinet. I found everything I needed and headed back to my cauldron. We worked in silence for a while. I looked over to Lee when his potion began to smell of rotten eggs and molding soup. Not the best of combinations.

"Lee, what are you doing?" I asked, looking down into his cauldron. The swirling liquid resembled puke. "This—you were supposed to stir it clockwise!" I said. I felt something splash my hand and quickly turned back to the potion I was working on. I grimaced as my hand turned blistery. I was making Sirius a prank-potion that I vividly recall my brother being the butt of a joke upon. It cramps up hands and feet if poured upon (as my brother found out) so they would curl and remained like that for a week. If swallowed, it would make the drinker ball up for a few hours. Not in any way harmful, but not pleasant.

It was actually from Byron Plumbly, he thought it'd be funny. It was.

"What's up with you and Sirius?" Lee asked me out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at him as he stirred his potion.

He shrugged. "Last year, I specifically recall you scoffing at his fan girls saying that you couldn't understand why anyone would want to spend a prolonged amount of time with the cocky bastard."

I looked down at my pale yellow potion. "I've changed my opinion."

"I'm not mad, it's just—you're the most stubborn girl I know, I just want to know why," Lee said.

I brought the fire temperature up. "I don't know. He—he helped me out with something and I'm really grateful."

Lee stopped messing with his potion and turned to me. "What am I then if I'm not here for you?" He asked.

I looked down at my potion which was steadily turning purple. "You're my friend," I told him.

"That can't help you out, apparently." Lee said in a sour tone. "I can't help but be a bit jealous that all of a sudden you've cut me out of your life. For the Marauders, of all people. The people who are the values you despise most incarnate." He said.

I looked away. "I didn't realize I was doing that," I said truthfully. "Why don't we hang out this weekend?" I asked.

"Angela and I were going to celebrate our anniversary, so sorry," Lee said bitterly.

I turned to Lee and took the stirring ladle out of his hand and hugged him. Our arguments always ended in hugging. He sighed and reluctantly wrapped his arms around me.

Towards the end of class, I finished my potion. I quickly stored it in an empty gallon milk carton and cleaned my cauldron.

When I looked into Lee's potion, I saw it was bright orange and smelt like coffee and in a solid state. I sighed and sat back, dejected at my failing grade.

"Miss Bales, I expected more from you," Slughorn said, poking the thick sludgy potion. He quickly dropped the spoon and waved his hand, as if he had been burned. "Interesting,"

"Sorry, sir, I wanted to see if Lee could do it by himself." I said.

Slughorn left, grumbling and rubbing his hand.

After classes, I located Sirius and gave him a big hug. "Happy Birthday!" I said. He smiled and hugged me back, burying his face in my hair.

"Thanks, Tessa." He said.

"I just wanted to say thanks—for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you," I said. He just tightened his grip. I turned my face and kissed his cheek before letting go.

We stood awkwardly for a moment, blushing.

"Oh, hey," I said, pulling my wand out. "I made you a present." I summoned my gallon of potion and handed it to him.

"Gee," Sirius said, looking at it with confusion. "Just what I've always wanted—a gallon of milk, or potion, or whatever this is. He pulled the cap off and smelled it. He made a face.

"It's a prank potion!" I told him brightly. I told him its properties and his face lit up like a lumos spell.

"Thanks Tessa!" He said, hugging me tightly before letting go. "Aw man, I can't wait to use this." He said, grinning.

I smiled. I knew him too well.

The rest of his birthday we spent in the common room. James and Peter left and came back with the richest chocolate cake I had ever tasted and I made Sirius a paper crown. James got Sirius a sack of pranks (not anywhere near as amazing as my prank potion), Peter got him a bottle of whiskey, and Remus got him a book on past Beaters. I think I took more interest in it than Sirius did.

The entire Common Room sang Sirius happy birthday before everyone retired for bed. Sirius, James, and Remus headed up to bed around Eleven and I stayed where I was, staring intensely at the fire.

I needed my sleep, but I hated nightmares. I really wanted to ask for some dreamless sleep potions, even though I was worried about getting hooked like my uncle. I decided that if I had another nightmare, I would go in and ask for it.

It was the first night in a long time I got a full night's sleep, only waking for a few minutes with a start as I dreamt of falling off a broom, but nothing serious.

"I slept!" I beamed at James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. I was so energized from the sudden extra sleep that I was hyper.

Remus looked worried. "So every other night you haven't?" He asked in surprise.

I smiled sheepishly.

"Well I'm glad you did last night. Might I add you look radiant this morning?" Sirius said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. I looked at it pointedly, but Sirius did not remove it. I rolled my eyes.

I sat down at the table, piling food onto my plate and happily infuriating Sirius as I bashed his favorite team. Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius feigned heartbreak and opened his _Daily Prophet_ while James jumped to my aid in tormenting Sirius.

"Those Harpies sure look like their namesake," I began, having an elaborate bull-shitted story in the works when I glanced at the paper Remus held. My mom's face jumped out at me. I trailed off and pulled the paper from his hands slowly and folded it back.

My mom was stoney faced as she stared at the camera with a man I recognized. The OTHER man from the break in at my house. It was only a little blurb but it made my blood run cold. 'Second-in-Command Head Auror, Therese Janice Bales will now be working with Patrick Travers, the head of the Area 36 devision, in order to find an escaped convict, though no further details have been given.'

I stared down at the picture and my incredible mood was sucked away.

There goes any chance I had at sleeping soundly.

* * *

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, pulling the paper from my hands. He scanned the page and spotted the blurb. "Oh don't tell me..." He said, looking at my face for confirmation.

"What?" James and Remus said, while the three stared on in confusion.

I flinched when I felt a cold hand pat my neck as someone walked by. It was Professor Tenebris. He leaned forward. "Watch yourself," He said so quietly, I wasn't sure he had spoken. Then he continued out of Great Hall.

Sirius watched him walk away with fury in his eyes. He took my hands and rubbed them soothingly.

I snapped out of my daze and excused myself to the restroom. I went straight there and sat on the counters. Girls came and went, none asking me why I was hiding in the bathroom. Not that I'd know what to tell them. In fact, I had no idea why I stayed in there. I just knew I couldn't go to classes. It was just too much.

The bell came and went and I knew my double History of Magic class had begun. Twenty minutes in, Sirius strode into the girls bathroom as if it were the boys. He looked at me for a while, just standing in the doorway. Then he approached me and gave me a big hug. He also lifted me off the counter and carried me out of the bathroom. I wriggled out of his grip—I was perfectly capable of walking.

"You don't need to skip class for me." I said as we wandered the empty halls.

"Well you don't need to skip class for YOU either." Sirius said. "Yet here we are, both skipping."

I shrugged. I wondered how my mother was fairing. I couldn't do it, if I were in her shoes. I couldn't work with someone who was using me to threaten my husband.

"I can't believe that in June, you were screaming at me for turning Lee's hair gold and red." Sirius said, pulling me from my thoughts.

I laughed. "As if, I was calmly informing you that if you didn't fix it, I would castrate you without anesthesia." I said. I sighed heavily. "Now Lee's mad because I spend so much time with you and James and Remus."

"Why's he mad?" Sirius asked, looking surprised. I knew he was concluding that Lee fancied me.

"Not for reasons you'd think. He's jealous that I'd prefer to spend time with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, the three boys I complained about most, over him. I tried to tell him that you helped me out, but that just made him madder." I said.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't let him help me," I said. "He's always been there for me, even though I've never had major problems."

Sirius was quiet. "Well, why don't you hang out with him?" He asked.

I sighed. "Because hanging out consists of talking Quidditch until its boring-"

"Quidditch talk is never boring," Sirius jumped in.

"We talk about it THAT much. Then our conversation dies and we just sit together in silence. I don't want any opportunities to think about my parents." I said, wrapping my arms around myself.

Sirius looked a little helpless.

"And then I'm not sure what to think about Freddy," I said. "He usually comes home for Christmas, but since mum and dad are..." I broke off. "I don't want him to go home." I said.

"What's this?" I whirled around. "Skipping class, are we Mister Black, Miss Bales? Professor Binns won't be pleased." It was Tenebris. "Let's get to class." He said, ushering us to move, leaving us no choice but to go to double History of Magic.

As I stared at the chalkboard with glassy eyes, I thought. If my mom could do this, this living under scrutiny, so could I. I pulled out a piece of parchment and dipped my quill in ink.

_Dear mum,_

_I read in the paper that you're on a new case. Good luck! How's your new partner? Is he nice or is he controlling. I've got a controlling teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Tenebris. He's strict and tough. I don't like him. How do you deal with people you don't like? It's really hard, this year. I worry too much. Got any tips on reducing stress?_

_Oh, and what are we doing this Christmas break? Is Freddy coming home?_

_Love,_

_Daughter._

I reread my letter. It looked like a simple letter, ignorant. Nothing dangerous. I folded it and put it away to send later.

Now, what would mother suggest? I stared at the chalkboard. I just had to distract myself. At least until she could tell me what to do. I focussed on Bins and his lecture on the Goblin Rebellion.

After classes, I stopped by the owlry to send my letter, but Knight wasn't there. I went back to the common room, intending to borrow James's, but he, Peter, and Sirius were gone doing who-knows-what. I found Remus in the dormitories. He was reading a book.

I plunked onto Remus's bed. He ignored me, but I could see playfulness in his eyes. I began to bounce until he couldn't read and he finally looked at me. "Yes?" He asked after staring at me a few seconds.

"Watcha readin?" I asked, moving to sit beside him. He showed me the cover. It had a drawing of a wizard on a ship with dragons circling in the sky, mer-people in the ocean, trying to climb onto the ship. In the distance, Vampires and Werewolves were clawing at each other. On the boat was a suntanned man with sun-bleached hair, a scar across his cheek and a silvery, magically replaced hand. He was brandishing a wand in his left hand, firing spells at the dragons, and in his right hand, a staff with magical properties was keeping the mer at bay. It was titled 'The Adventures of Lonius Tarwol,' a wizard novel.

"What's this about?" I asked as he flipped open to his page.

Remus thought for a moment, trying to compose a good explanation. "Well, it's about a Norwegian wizard, Lonius, who is a wanderer. No one knows where he's from and he travels around the world in his ship, The Tarwol, which has a mind of its own. It takes him to places in trouble and he fixes it."

"Sounds cute." I said. He pulled a face before marking his page and shutting it.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Well. I was going to send a letter with Knight, but he's disappeared. I came back to ask James for his owl, then I was going to practice quidditch." I explained.

So we headed to the owlry and Remus procured an enormous barn owl. I tied my letter and the fat owl took a clumsy launch and was gone.

I watched him fly until he was gone. When I looked at Remus, he looked at war with himself. He opened his mouth, made a noise, then shut up.

"What?" I asked. He shook his head and smiled. I shrugged. "Wanna go flying?" I asked.

He nodded, saying "Well I don't have a broom, but I can use yours." And we went down to the pitch.

Something was on his mind. He looked distracted. "Do you know how to fly?" I asked.

He gave me an appalled look. "What kind of man would I be if I didn't know how to fly!" He cried.

I raised an eyebrow. I mounted my broom and scooted back. "Well, take the lead," I said, gesturing for him to get on in front of me. He did so less gracefully then a quidditch player. He was a fair flier.

But he was so slow!

I leaned forward. "This broom is a Meteorbolt 76, not even released yet. I think you can go a little faster, oh mighty flier." I said into his ear. He looked at me with narrowed eyes and accelerated a little.

"Oh come on!" I said before reaching around him, placing my hands on the broom and taking the lead. I sped it up till it was giving me my favorite adrenaline rush. Remus must have been scared because he leaned back into me.

"Okay," I said, slowing down. "Hold on?" I asked. He took the lead, slowing even more. I swung my leg off the broom, reached around in front of him and dropped off the broom. He screamed a stream of curses, while I climbed on in front of him.

"We could have landed!" He yelled in my ear as I zoomed off.

I swerved, causing him to grab my waist for support. "Now Remus," I said, turning my head so he could hear me. "Where would be the fun in that?" I asked.

He spluttered for a moment before I went even faster. He was scared of speed, I decided. So I continued my hazardous seeming trail of swerves and loops and dives. After a while, I landed and Remus scrambled off quickly, as though he were scared I was just kidding and was going to take off.

I put my broom in the shed and we sat down beside the lake.

"You could've told me you were scared of flying." I said. He still looked flustered and windswept.

"I didn't know I was scared till you took the control." He said. He ran a hand through his hair, very James-like. He seemed real jittery. I shrugged. I must have really scared him.

Remus looked at his watch. "Almost curfew." He said. We headed up to the common room. James and Sirius were there, bragging about a prank.

"Where've you two been-blimey, Remus, you okay?" James said as we entered.

Remus was pale now. "She took me flying." He mumbled as he sat down on the floor and then sprawled out, eyes closed. James and Sirius chuckled

"Where's Pete?" I asked, squashing myself between James and Sirius.

"Upstairs, practicing Charms." James answered.

"She flies like a madwoman." Remus added, apparently still traumatized.

I shrugged, putting on a modest face. "No, not this little angel!" James said teasingly, grabbing my chin and making me look at Remus. I gave him a convincing smile. He just closed his eyes.

"I figured when you said you knew how to fly, you meant you could actually fly. I didn't realize your skill level was so amateur." I said, putting my feet on his chest.

He was silent while James and Sirius laughed. He grabbed my feet and tickled them, causing me to yank my feet back like a hermit crab retreating into his shell. Then commenced a tickle torture—Sirius sat on me while James tickled my sides and Remus held my legs so I couldn't move them and tickled my feet.

I screamed embarrassingly loud as they tickled. "Stop!" I pleaded. "Stoppppp! Please!" I screeched.

"Come ON James," Lily Evans snapped, yanking his arms away. I didn't notice her approach, but I was sure glad to see her.

"Thank you, Lil—ahh!" Remus had released me and I had pushed Sirius, intending to make him get off me, but in fact, starting a wrestling match. As I pushed Sirius off, he grabbed me and dragged me onto the floor. It was like being a little kid again, fighting with Freddy. It ended with me under Sirius and squashed against the couch and James's feet.

I sat up and leaned against James's legs. "Hey guys," I panted, pushing hair out of my face. "Did you know Remus has an owl named Rex?" I asked.

James and Sirius snickered while Remus raised his eyes upwards, silently pleading for help with the psychos he considered friends. At least, I imagine that's why he raised his eyes.

James and Remus went to bed before Sirius and I. We sat in silence for a while before he spoke. "Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly. I thought about it. "I was worried when we didn't know where you'd gone off to, but then we saw you flying. I thought you were hiding again."

"No." I said in a small voice, in response to his question. I wasn't okay. Tears brimmed over against my will. Sirius looked unsure for a moment before he pulled me to him and I cried silently into his shoulder. I cried for a while. Longer than I wanted. Whenever I was about to stop, tears thickened and I stayed awkwardly against his shoulder.

Sirius patted and rubbed my back. He murmured false comforts like 'you'll be okay' and whatnot. He did a fair job of comforting.

"You'll feel better after some sleep," Sirius said after some comforts.

I chuckled into his shoulder. "Smooth way of getting away from the pathetic sobbing girl, huh?" I murmured in my tear-sore voice.

There was a pause as he seemed to stiffen in surprise. "Pathetic? Is that how you see yourself? I don't think that at all. This sucks. You're handling everything well. I'm impressed." He said.

I pulled back and wiped my eyes and made a long, very gross, sniffle. He gave me a reassuring smile and I took in Sirius's beauty. His smile was just.. It was contagious. I smiled back at him. His eyes were stormy grey and very tender.

"Sleep will be good." He said, his hand cupping my face comfortingly. He wiped a tear away and stood, pulling me up. He walked me over to the dormitory. Sirius hugged me tight, stooping so I could bury my face in his shoulder (that probably wasn't his motive for stooping, but hey).

I turned my face towards him to say something, I can't remember what anymore, because when I turned, my lips were suddenly against his. I was thoroughly surprised to say the least. His lips opened a little, making it, I assumed, a proper kiss. He kissed me for a very short, but seemingly very long time.

He pulled away and stared at me for a second, surprised. His face said 'wait...what just happened?' Then he began laughing. He pushed his face into my shoulder as he chuckled. I was too stunned to ask him why he was laughing.

"How cliche!" He finally said, laughing. "I—I was trying to kiss your cheek w-when you turned." He laughed so hard, he could hardly talk.

I giggled a little, but I was still stunned. Finally, my sarcasm came back to me. "Oh my gosh—I just kissed THE famous Sirius Black..." I said. It came out weak, but it had us both in hysterical laughter. It was ludicrous at that moment. I laugh because I don't want to cry, I read somewhere once.

He took my face in both hand and kissed my cheek, making a loud kissing noise as he did so. "Go to bed," He said, his amusement still in his voice. I hugged him briefly and went up to bed, jittery now.

After I was in bed, I tried to push away thoughts of Sirius and his kiss and fall asleep, but I kept thinking about how it was my first kiss.

On October 1st, Fourth Years and up had a House Meeting with Heads of Houses.

Professor McGonagall met with us in her classroom which she had enlarged to fit fourth through seventh year. "Good afternoon, students." She said. There was a murmur of 'good afternoon, professor.'

"As you heard at the welcoming feast, we are hosting a winter formal." She said. There was an excited buzzed. "You are allowed and encouraged to bring a date. But it isn't all fun and games. We feel our students are dreadfully ignorant of social gatherings. The Ball will start early, two in the afternoon, and you will be graded on dance and manners. At six, the grades will be done and we will have live music. I am aware some of you already know manners and dances, but many of you don't. I will hold after-school sessions teaching manners and dance. And before you ask, if you do not have a date, you will be paired with another student at random for the dance."

Everyone began whispering. McGonagall continued to lecture on integrity and whatnot and finally dismissed us. As we left, I turned to Sirius and held up a hand for a high five.

"We already BREATHE this!" I said. He returned the high five enthusiastically while James and Remus looked put out.

**So I decided to go back and edit somethings as well as add Peter into the story.**

**Enjoy,**

**_NathaliaLavell_**


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